Father Identity,Involvement and Work–Family Balance: An In‐depth Interview Study

Work and family roles have changed considerably in the past number of decades. Fathers are now expected to fulfil the role of ‘new father’ that involves actively caring and sharing in child rearing and, at the same time, maintain commitment to their occupational role. As a consequence, men are subject to the same pressure that women were when they initially entered the workplace decades ago and indeed still are today. This study aims to explore the meanings fathers attach to their life roles, how these meanings influence behaviour within these roles and how they negotiate the demands of these roles. In‐depth interviews were carried out with 15 fathers, and the results were analysed adhering to the principles of grounded theory. The findings show the variability among fathers in both their commitment to fathering and the meanings they attach to that role. A significant tension between new fatherhood ideals and actual fathering practices is also apparent. These findings are discussed drawing upon traditional definitions of masculinity and wider occupational and cultural influences. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating clinical significance: Incorporating robust statistics with normative comparison tests

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a modified test of equivalence for conducting normative comparisons when distribution shapes are non‐normal and variances are unequal. A Monte Carlo study was used to compare the empirical Type I error rates and power of the proposed Schuirmann–Yuen test of equivalence, which utilizes trimmed means, with that of the previously recommended Schuirmann and Schuirmann–Welch tests of equivalence when the assumptions of normality and variance homogeneity are satisfied, as well as when they are not satisfied. The empirical Type I error rates of the Schuirmann–Yuen were much closer to the nominal α level than those of the Schuirmann or Schuirmann–Welch tests, and the power of the Schuirmann–Yuen was substantially greater than that of the Schuirmann or Schuirmann–Welch tests when distributions were skewed or outliers were present. The Schuirmann–Yuen test is recommended for assessing clinical significance with normative comparisons.     

On the limitations of fixed‐step‐size adaptive methods with response confidence

The family of (non‐parametric, fixed‐step‐size) adaptive methods, also known as ‘up–down’ or ‘staircase’ methods, has been used extensively in psychophysical studies for threshold estimation. Extensions of adaptive methods to non‐binary responses have also been proposed. An example is the three‐category weighted up–down (WUD) method (Kaernbach, 2001) and its four‐category extension (Klein, 2001). Such an extension, however, is somewhat restricted, and in this paper we discuss its limitations. To facilitate the discussion, we characterize the extension of WUD by an algorithm that incorporates response confidence into a family of adaptive methods. This algorithm can also be applied to two other adaptive methods, namely Derman's up–down method and the biased‐coin design, which are suitable for estimating any threshold quantiles. We then discuss via simulations of the above three methods the limitations of the algorithm. To illustrate, we conduct a small scale of experiment using the extended WUD under different response confidence formats to evaluate the consistency of threshold estimation.     

Parkinson’s Disease: Patients’ Knowledge,Attitudes, and Interest in Genetic Counseling

The objective of this study was to assess the genetics knowledge of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), and to explore their attitudes on genetic testing and interest in genetic counseling. We surveyed 158 patients from the University of Maryland Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center. Patients averaged a score of 63% on general genetics knowledge and 73% on PD genetics knowledge. Participants had an overall positive attitude toward genetic testing: 80% believed that the use of genetic tests among people should be promoted, and 83% would undertake genetic test for PD if it was available. Patients reported a high interest to discuss the benefits, risks, and impacts of genetic testing for PD (mean sum score?=?26, range?=?9–35), and 43% patients expressed interest in meeting with a genetic counselor. Multivariate regression analysis showed that patients who had more positive attitudes toward genetic testing for PD were more interested in meeting with a genetic counselor (β?=?0.6, p?<?0.001). This study is the first to demonstrate an interest in genetic counseling among patients with PD. Our findings demonstrate a new niche for genetic counselors to support patients in clarifying gaps or misconceptions in knowledge about PD genetics as well as the possible risks, benefits, and limitations of genetic testing.     

“Inside out”: Appraisals for achievement emotions from constructive,positive, and negative feedback on writing

Even with the recent surge of research on achievement emotions, few studies have investigated emotions in feedback situations and the appraisals associated with such emotions. The purpose of this study was to examine emotion appraisals of constructive criticism, negative, and positive feedback, to aid us in determining whether these appraisals differed by feedback type. In a task asking them to provide open-ended responses as they imagined receiving feedback on a writing task, undergraduates (N?=?270) gave reasons for why they might experience unpleasant emotions from positive feedback and pleasant emotions from negative feedback along with reasons for both pleasant and unpleasant emotions emanating from constructive feedback. Open coding of responses yielded categories for each emotion-feedback pairing that, across all emotions, were collapsed into five appraisal categories: feedback suggests ways to improve, a mismatch between feedback and task exists, feedback targets the self or one’s ability, feedback says something about the relationship between feedback giver and receiver, and the task is judged for its value. Distributions of appraisal categories distinguished constructive feedback from positive and negative feedback. Implications are drawn for control-value theory and for classroom feedback practices.     

One-to-one support for crisis intervention using online synchronous instant messaging: evaluating working alliance and client satisfaction

Young people are increasingly turning to online support, especially when traditional mental health services are not immediately available. Using a cross-sectional design, sociodemographic information and self-reported perceptions of the strength of the working alliance and client satisfaction were collected from a sample of participants (n = 78) who were users of a service providing free online support using synchronous instant messaging. The results reported a significant positive relationship between the strength of the working alliance and client satisfaction, suggesting that the strength of the working alliance remains a key component in counselling, even online. Participants, however, scored significantly lower on both the strength of the working alliance and client satisfaction, compared to participants in offline settings as reported in past studies.     

If We Build It … Will They Come? – Establishing a Cancer Genetics Services Clinic for an Underserved Predominantly Latina Cohort

Background: Cancer genetic counseling and testing is a standard of care option for appropriate families and can identify individuals at increased risk prior to diagnosis, when prevention or detection strategies are most effective. Despite documented efficacy of cancer risk reduction in high-risk individuals, underserved and minority individuals have a disproportionate cancer burden and limited access to genetic counseling. Methods: A needs assessment survey documented gaps in knowledge and interest in prevention. Satellite clinics were established at two indigent healthcare systems. Cancer genetics CME lectures were conducted and referral guidelines disseminated to clinicians who referred patients for counseling. Results: An increase in clinician knowledge was demonstrated post-CME and reflected by quality referrals. Eighty-eight percent of patients kept their appointments. In the predominantly Latina⁶ (n=77) clinic population, 71.4% were affected with cancer, and 17 mutation positive families were identified. Preliminary data shows a positive impact on patients' motivation and behavior. The majority has expressed satisfaction and reduction in anxiety. Conclusions: This study demonstrates feasibility and acceptability of cancer genetics services in this population, suggesting the potential to reduce cancer morbidity in underserved, high-risk families.“Latino” is the most common census term for individuals of Spanish, Mexican, Central and South American, Cuban, or Puerto Rican descent, referring to ethnicity, and is generally considered a more ethnically/culturally based term for individuals of the aforementioned groups. As this cohort is female the feminine noun “Latina” is used     

Overcoming the self-promotion dilemma: interpersonal attraction and extra help as a consequence of who sings one's praises

Prior research has shown that positive information presented by a third party shields people from the negative consequences of being perceived as self-promoting. But in many contexts, those third parties are intermediaries with a financial interest in the person being promoted rather than neutral parties. In three experimental studies, the authors demonstrate that even when intermediaries are not neutral, they can be helpful for overcoming the self-promotion dilemma--the need to assert one's competence but not be harmed by the fact that people who self-promote are viewed negatively. The authors find that hiring an agent to sing one's praises results in more favorable perceptions of the client, which contributes, in turn, to a greater willingness to offer that person assistance. It is also shown that even when the intermediary is physically present and seen to be complicit with the client, the positive effects of having someone else speak on one's behalf persist.     

Applying Multiple Knowledge Structures in Creative Thought: Effects on Idea Generation and Problem-Solving

Prior studies have indicated that multiple knowledge structures, schema, associations, and cases, are involved in creative thought. Few studies, however, have examined how these different knowledge structures operate together in idea generation and creative problem-solving. Accordingly, in the present study 247 undergraduates were asked to generate ideas relevant to a social innovation problem and then provide a potential solution to the problem. A training manipulation was used to encourage application of schematic, associational, or case-based knowledge either alone or in combination. It was found that prompting use of a single knowledge structure, specifically schema or associational knowledge, resulted in the production of more high quality ideas. However, prompting use of multiple knowledge structures, specifically combining either schema or associations with cases, resulted in the production of higher quality and more original problem-solutions. The implications of these findings for understanding the role of different knowledge structures in creative thought are discussed.